Click to play videoGeneral Secretary of Communist Party of India A B Bardhan lashing out at comrades said that Left leaders tend to become arrogant as they come to power.
Talking to Karan Thapar on Devil’s Advocate Bardhan said that CPM-led Left Front government in Bengal runs as if it is a single party government. He also blamed them for the Lalgarh violence and neglecting adivasis (tribals) in the state. Bardhan suggested that tough questions should be asked to state’s Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
Karan Thapar: Were you advising them (state government) to do something more? Did they in other words failed to listen to your advice?
A B Bardhan: At that time, there was no question of my giving advice. In fact, the government was being run as a one-party government more or less.
Karan Thapar:You weren't consulted at all?
A B Bardhan: No, I don't think we were consulted. That is one of the failings of the Left government in West Bengal if I may say so. They amount of consultation that ought to be there is not there.
Karan Thapar:So when at your national executive fairly recently at Kolkata, you said that Left leaders should shed their arrogance, you actually had the leaders of the CPM in mind?
A B Bardhan: Including my leaders also. Some of my leaders are also in positions of authority. In West Bengal and Kerala, the goverments are the local bodies, anybody who comes to power tends to become a bit arrogant.
During the interview Bardhan also stated that the West Bengal government is guilty of neglect in Lalgarh. He said that the government has done nothing for the people after the agrarian reforms it carried out more than two decades ago.
Karan Thapar: How do you respond to the view that Lalgarh wasn't taken by the Maoists, it was abandoned by your state government, that Lalgarh isn't a sign of Maoist strength but the incompetence of your state government.
A B Bardhan: Incompetence is a very harsh word to use in this context but I must say an element of neglect and not undertaking the work that should have been done, particularly in an area inhabited by tribal people. There is a need for paying special attention to the tribal people, development and all that.
Karan Thapar:So you accept that your government in Bengal, which is your own government, is guilty of neglect?
A B Bardhan: They had undertaken the agrarian reforms. Seventy five per cent of the tribal people are beneficiaries of the agrarian reform but beyond that you have to do something more.
Karan Thapar:And they didn't do it?
A B Bardhan: They neglected it. Yes, I will say so. If the Left Front government was not failing in some respects, what scope would the Trinamool have? None. Mamata Banerjee or the Trinamool leadership can take advantage of only our weaknesses.
Taking on West Bengal’s Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Bardhan said that he is accountable for all the trouble happening in the state. Though Bardhan cleared that he is not looking for any kind of leadership change, he emphasised that very tough questions should be asked to him.
Karan Thapar: If advice were to be given would you advice we need a change of general?
A B Bardhan: A change in the direction of work, I would say that. Whether A remains or B comes you see it doesn't make any difference, the party is there.
Karan Thapar: That doesn't sound like a very passionate defense of the general in charge at the moment.
A B Bardhan: What I am saying is that I am not concerned with the general at the moment. I am concerned with the people in Lalgarh at the moment.
Karan Thapar: Do you think questions need to be asked of the general, not just what has happened now in Lalgarh but the build up to it in terms of security and the bigger build up to it in terms of neglect of development. Do you think questions need to be asked?
A B Bardhan: These questions will have to certainly be answered by the general. There has to be a post-mortem and not only a postmortem, there has to be a cure. Supposing even the police action is successful in driving the Maoists out then what?
Karan Thapar: You are talking a very thorough post-mortem not just a whitewash.
A B Bardhan: No, whitewash won't do because more Lalgarhs may come about.
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